Victory does not come without sacrifice
by AlmightyIshboo
Summary: An alternative ending to KOTOR I thought up. Warning: Pretty darn depressing.


This is just an alternative ending to KOTOR I thought up a little while back that I finally decided to write down. It starts on the Star Forge, right before Revan battles Malak for the final time.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Knights of the Old Republic. Nope. I just decided to make a depressing alternative ending to the game because I was feeling rather depressed today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Revan took a deep breath before stepping into the room that she knew contained Malak. As she approached, Malak turned around. Disbelief and irritation was evident on his face as he stared at her. "Well done Revan. I had thought the Star Forge's defenses would destroy you, yet I see there is more of your old self left to you then I had thought possible." He paused, his look turning from irritation to thoughtful. "I am tempted to capture you alive Revan. You would be a far greater asset to me then Bastila and her Battle Meditation ever could." He continued. Revan returned his stare defiantly and said quietly, "I will never turn to the dark side again." Malak's eyes narrowed as he said, "Those are foolish words. The light and dark wage a constant war within you Revan. The scale is tipped one way now but it can easily be tipped the other way. I could break your will and bind you to me as I did with Bastila." At these words, Revan took an involuntary step backwards, eyeing Malak warily. He continued on as if he hadn't noticed his old master's nervousness. "But would it be worth the risk? Would I be able to control you? How long would it be before you rose up against me, as I did you? Fate and destiny have conspired to keep you alive despite all my efforts. I think the only way this will end is when one of us destroys the other." Revan activated her twin lightsabers and said, "If that is to be the way this ends, then so be it." Malak nodded slightly, activating his own lightsaber and said, "We will now see who shall be the victor and decide the fate of the galaxy!"  
  
Malak then charged in, closing the short distance between him and Revan. He attacked her with a furry of blows, annoyed to see she blocked every one of them. She parried after his attack was over, thrusting forward with one of her lightsabers while she held the other ready to defend herself. Malak cursed and back-flipped out of the way of the blow, landing on his feet several feet away from Revan. Eyeing her with new respect, he closed in warily, searching for a weakness in her defensive pattern. Revan did likewise, and a couple moments passed where the two circled each other, each ready to spring into action should the other attack suddenly. Revan broke the peace by feinting a rush to the left. Malak began to pursue her then, recognizing the feint, stopped short and dodged aside as both Revan's lightsabers twirled towards him. He turned to face her, realizing the battle wouldn't be as easy as he originally thought. As he closed in to attack Revan, he vowed that he would never underestimate her again.  
  
Revan watched Malak's approach warily, looking for some flaw in his approach she could use to her advantage. She stepped backwards quickly as he suddenly charged in, his lightsaber leading the way. She batted it aside and surged foreward, swinging one of her lightsabers in a descending arc while the other twirled upwards in an ascending arc. Malak blocked one and tried to side-step out of the way of the other, but he moved too slowly. He hissed in pain as Revan's lightsaber cut deep into his side. He glanced around, then used the Force to push Revan backwards. As she regained her footing, he quickly ran towards a tube that held the motionless body of a Jedi. As Revan approached he motioned to all the other Jedi that were in similar tubes. "See the Jedi in the tubes Revan? You should recognize them from the Jedi enclave on Dantooine, the one I attacked and destroyed. They are, for all intense and purposes, dead, save for one difference." Revan looked at him questioningly and he sighed before explaining, "I have not let them become one with the Force. The Star Forge perverts what is left of their power, and transfers it to me." Revan blinked and said, "What do you mean by that? Are you saying the Star Forge is like a living creature?" Malak nodded. "In a way it is. You thought it to be just a factory. All you imagined was an endless fleet rolling forth to crush the Republic. You were blind Revan. Blind and stupid. The Star Forge feeds on the darkness within all of us, and empowers those who uses dark energies." Malak turned away from Revan to face the tube and sucked what remained of the Jedi's life force. He turned back to find a repulsed look on Revan's face and he smirked inwardly. "You cannot defeat me here on the Star Forge Revan. And when I have defeated you, you shall join the fate of those you see around you. You will be trapped within a terrible existence between life and death and your power will feed me as I conquer the galaxy." He then activated his lightsaber once more and attacked Revan.  
  
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Carth Onasi sighed as he paced the floor in front of the door where Revan had disappeared to a short while ago. He looked over at Juhani who seemed to be equally worried as he was. They exchanged nervous glances as both their gazes were drawn to the door Carth was pacing in front of. Juhani walked up to Carth and asked quietly, so not to distract Bastila from using her Battle Meditation against the Sith, "Do you think she'll be able to defeat him?" Carth ran his hand through his hair and said back, "She has to, she just has to. She promised she'd come with me to see Dustil on Telos. She won't break her promise to me." Juhani nodded slightly and asked quietly, "But will that promise be enough to withstand the evil of the Dark Lord?" Carth whirled on the Cathar woman and asked, "What are you suggesting? That she might yet turn to the dark side?! She resisted the temptation once, she can do it again!" Juhani backed away a few steps and said calmly, "I have full confidence in her not to turn to the dark side...still something doesn't feel right here. It may just be the dark energies this place is full of...or something else..." she trailed off then shook her head, "Don't pay any attention to me Carth. I'm sure she'll be fine." She walked away from Carth and leaned against a wall. Carth watched her go and sighed deeply. Glancing back at the door he muttered quietly, "Damn it Revan, you'd better come back in one piece."  
  
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Malak was not amused. Not only had the Star Forge failed to kill his old master, he was having difficulty himself fighting her. He had all ready drained most of the dead Jedi's powers yet she was still going strong. Malak quickly glanced around, counting how many Jedi he had left. He swore silently as he realized he only had three left to use. He looked back at Revan and saw he would be hard pressed to defeat her with the limited amount of resources he had left. Revan, still being on the light side, was able to heal herself while Malak had to resort to the Jedi. Malak had not even thought that there was the slightest chance he could be defeated, and yet it began to look there was more then just a slight chance of his defeat. Well he certainly wasn't going down without a fight. He paused as he thought to himself, 'Could the powers still left in the Jedi be used to harm rather then to heal? Perhaps...it's worth a try.'  
  
Malak forced Revan backwards with a series of attacks then quickly blasted her even further backwards with a Force push. He then deactivated his lightsaber and ran up a ramp to his right, running for all he was worth. When he reached the top, he drew the energies from the remaining dead Jedi into himself and concentrated on forming the power into a harming force rather then a healing one. He released the force in the form of Force Lightning at Revan as she climbed the ramp after him. He heard Revan let out a pain-filled scream, followed by the sound of her dropping to her knees. Malak turned to see Revan shaking visibly, taking in deep breathes of air. He laughed sadistically as he approached her. It was time to finish this.  
  
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Carth ran to Bastila's side as she suddenly sat up straight and hissed in pain. "Bastila! What's wrong what's the matter?!" he asked. Bastila didn't reply and she cradled her head in her hands, rubbing her temples vigorously. Juhani dropped to her side and said, "Bastila, please tell us what happened." Bastila blinked as if noticing Juhani for the first time and said quietly, "Revan is in trouble."  
  
Those words were like a blow to Carth's soul. He nearly fell but caught himself before doing so and asked, "What?! How?! Is she..." he trailed off, not daring to even finish his sentence. Bastila shook her head and replied, "She's not dead Carth...although she is in terrible pain...I'll try to find out what happened." Bastila then knelt back down and was surrounded by a faint blue light. She then sent out a telepathic message to Revan to find out what happened.  
  
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Through the mind-searing pain, Revan was able to pick up what she thought was Bastila's voice, asking her what happened worriedly. Revan concentrated on clearing her mind and sent back, 'Bastila, there's no time to explain. Get everyone to the Ebon Hawk and get out of here. I'll keep Malak here as long as I'm able.' The effort of sending the telepathic message sent more pain shooting throughout Revan's body and she shivered against it. Revan looked up as she heard Malak approach, trying hard to contain her fear. Malak glanced down at her unconcernedly before sending another attack of Force Lightning at her. The force from the blast knocked her backwards and she was knocked off of the ramp, landing on the ground below with a sickening crack. She breathed in sharply as pain laced it's way down her right leg. Revan pushed herself up slightly, but then buckled under the pain that sent through her body. She laid on the floor of the Star Forge, hearing Malak's amused laughter above her.  
  
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Carth's mind was numb with shock as he was dragged back towards the Ebon Hawk. 'No..it can't be. She can't die. She just can't.' he thought repeatedly to himself over and over. He finally shook off his shock and suddenly was filled with fury. He pulled himself free of Bastila's grasp and glared at her fully, "What kind of friends are we to leave Revan back there alone?! We have to go back and help her!" Bastila turned to face him, and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes, "Damn it Carth! We can't do anything! She's buying us time to escape. Would you rather her sacrifice be in vain?! We need to leave now! The Star Forge is going to be destroyed soon and I don't want to be on it when it is. So come on!"  
  
Carth shook half from fury and half from the effort of holding back his own tears. He reluctantly began to follow Bastila and Juhani as they started running again, hoping beyond hope that Revan would soon follow.  
  
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"I must admit you have been the biggest pain in my side I've ever had to deal with. That's quite an accomplishment." Malak said nonchalantly as he walked down the ramp towards Revan. She glared at him and said, "Thank you I try." Malak chuckled amusedly as he walked up to Revan. "Are you always this humorous?" he asked. "Are you always this charming or am I just lucky?" Revan retorted. "Oh..you're just lucky." Malak replied offhandedly. He then proceeded to pace back in forth in front of Revan. "Now I'm at an indecision. Should I go with my earlier threat to turn you to the dark side, or should I just kill you and use your life's energy to empower me...what do you think?" Revan snorted and said, "I think that you can go to Hell." Malak's eyes flashed with anger and he kicked Revan hard in the chest, knocking the air out of her. He then shocked her once again with Force Lightning. As a result of having no oxygen in her lungs, Revan only managed to whimper in pain, which disappointed Malak greatly. He would have rather heard her scream.  
  
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"What was I thinking?!" Carth muttered to himself as he ran back towards the room Revan was in. He made himself deaf to Bastila's screams to come back as he barreled throughout the Star Forge. He shook his head and said quietly, "Sorry Bastila, but I'm not going to let someone else I care for die." Pangs of pain shot through him as he remembered holding his wife while she died. He had been unable to do anything to help her, but he might be able to do something to help Revan. 'I might not be a Jedi, but Malak is going to have a hell of a time beating me.' Carth thought to himself as he ran into the room they had found Bastila in earlier. He quickly jogged over to the door Revan had disappeared into and attempted to open it. He swore as he realized it was locked. Carth checked to see if he had anything to open the door with. He smiled as he felt inside his backpack and pulled out two plasma grenades, five sonic grenades, and three frag grenades. He backed away from the door and threw several sonic grenades at the door, one to the left of it, one to the right, and one in the middle. He shielded his eyes as they exploded, filling the room with light as the door deactivated. He stepped foreword cautiously as the light cleared and walked through a large hole that had been blown into the door.  
  
He walked down the hallway and saw the remains of dozens of droids and he swore softly. Carth continued on past the droid remains and came upon another sealed door. He scowled as he pulled out more grenades. His eyes widened in surprise as he heard Revan scream in pain from the other side of the door. He HAD to hurry!  
  
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She wanted to die. She just couldn't bear the pain any longer. But, of course, Malak was keeping her alive for a little while for his amusement. 'Damn him. I hope he dies a horrible flaming death when this station is destroyed.' She thought to herself bitterly. Malak seemed to pick up that particular thought and he laughed. "What makes you think that the Republic is going to be able to destroy the Star Forge while I'm still alive? Before you arrived, I put a shield over the Star Forge, it consisting mostly of the Force. As long as I still draw breath, all attacks upon the Star Forge will be in vain." He said, arching an eyebrow. Revan felt what hope she had retained since she had gotten into this situation dissipate. Malak sensed this too and said quietly, "I'm giving you one last chance Revan. Join me or suffer a most painful death at my hands. What do you owe the Jedi anyway? They always tried to control you earlier on, forbade you from fighting in the Mandalorian Wars. And after you achieved the rank of Dark Lord, they captured you and wiped your memory, making you a slave to the Republic. Then they used you to find out the secrets of the Star Forge. You should make them pay for these insults. Or you could play the fool and say they did what they had to do and that you'd rather die then join me. I don't care either way." He finished with a shrug.  
  
Revan glared up at him and said, "I'll never join you Malak. So you might as well kill me." Malak raised an eyebrow and said amusedly, "And what makes you think that I'll grant you that mercy?" He grinned at Revan's surprise and said, "You're going to remain alive Revan, whether or not you want to. I'll keep you here on the Star Forge, the dark energies in here will force you to remain alive while you go through every torture I can possibly think of. Sounds exciting doesn't it?" Revan swallowed nervously and tried to put as much distance between herself and Malak as was humanely possible. He just watched her, obviously very amused. He started to walk towards her but stopped short as he heard an explosion from behind him. He turned around curiously and saw a middle-aged man standing there. "Don't you dare touch her you bastard." The man spat at him. Malak raised an amused eyebrow and said, "Oh look Revan, your knight in shining armor has finally arrived." Revan blinked and pushed herself up slightly to get a better look at who Malak was talking about. Her heart sank as she saw Carth standing there. "Carth?! What are you doing here?! Go back to the Ebon Hawk and get out of here!" she said to him. Carth glared at her and said, "Do you honestly think I'm going to leave you here to face Malak alone?" Malak sighed irritably and said, "Listen to the woman. Leave while you can." Carth shook with anger as he took out of vibroblades. "No." he said solidly. Malak sighed again and activated his lightsaber and started approaching Carth. Carth stood his ground as Malak approached and the two began fighting.  
  
Malak was surprised at the ferocity of which Carth attacked with. He hadn't expected such agility and strength from this person. Malak shook his head irritably as he blasted Carth backwards with Force Push. As the soldier regained his footing, Malak used the Force to root him to the spot. Carth's expression shifted from anger to surprise. He watched helplessly as Malak approached, obviously intending on killing him. Carth frowned as Malak abruptly stopped, his eyes wide in disbelief and pain. Malak fell foreword, and Carth saw Revan standing there, shaking from the effort and pain of walking on her broken leg. She crumpled to the ground and started breathing heavily. "You shouldn't of come Carth." She managed to whisper. Carth shook the paralysis off and ran to her side, holding her head in his lap. "I couldn't just leave you to die. I'd hate myself forever." He replied quietly, stroking her face. Revan coughed and said to Carth, "You need to leave now. If you don't get off the Star Forge, you'll die." Carth frowned slightly and said, "Well I'm certainly not leaving you behind. You're coming with me, even if I have to carry you." Revan locked eyes with him and said, "I'm dying Carth. You can't save me. With Malak dead, what force was keeping me alive is diminishing. You need to leave, you can't abandon Dustil. Go...before it's to late..." she trailed off and shuddered slightly. Carth blinked back tears and said, "No..please don't die. You can't.." Revan looked up at him, the light leaving her eyes as she said quietly, "I'm sorry Carth." Carth didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be true. He hugged Revan's body closer to his and cried quietly. An explosion shaking the whole structure reminded him of his peril and he stood up ran towards the docking bay where the Ebon Hawk was.  
  
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Yeah I know it's an abrupt ending. But I just couldn't think of how to end it. Anyway, we all know that they get away from the Star Forge right before it explodes. If you absolutely hated my story, please refrain from saying so. It would just depress me even more. 


End file.
